The wives of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine went to the Theater Square in Moscow and demanded that their loved ones be included in military rotation and sent back from the front line. It was the first public protest by military wives since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The police intervened. The British Ministry of Defense estimates that the lack of military rotation is difficult not only for the soldiers themselves, but also for their families.
As reported by the British Ministry of Defense, on November 7, the wives of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, probably held the first public street protest in Moscow since February 2022, i.e. the beginning of the war. Protesters gathered at Teatralny Square and unfurled banners, demanding that their partners be included in the rotation and that the Ministry of Defense send them away from the front line.
They demanded rotation at the front
It was emphasized that since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, reports of Russian wives and mothers who protest against the conditions of service of their loved ones appear on social media every day. However, legislation Russia has so far prevented soldiers’ relatives from joining together as an influential lobbying force, as mothers of soldiers did during the Afghan-Soviet war in the 1980s.
It added that although police ended the protest at Theater Square within minutes, it is noteworthy because indefinitely prolonged combat missions of personnel without rotation are apparently increasingly seen as unbearable by both the soldiers themselves and their relatives.
Main photo source: Ministry of Defense of Russia/Telegram